The monthly report said the €200bn milestone was achieved for the first time after the sector had received €16.6bn of inflows year-to-date.
Total long-term fund sales in Europe were up at €30.4bn in March, marking the eighth month in a row fund sales topped €20bn.
Within this bond fund sales were up by €6.4bn at €17.3bn, while equity fund sales were down by €3.9bn at €5.6bn, suggesting the ‘great rotation’ is still a long way off.
Smaller companies boost
Lipper said another striking new theme may be emerging in the form of inflows to smaller companies funds.
Over the first quarter of the year net sales for smaller companies funds – including Europe, US, UK, Swiss and Asian small cap equity products – reached €6.9bn the highest quarterly total since Lipper records began in 2002.
The below graph shows the performance of various smaller companies sectors over the past six months, with Japan in the lead and UK lagging its regional counterparts.
“This is significant not just for small cap managers, but also suggests investors’ interest in equities is taking deeper root – even if the headline figures for overall equity sales are less encouraging,” said Ed Moisson, head of UK and cross-border research at Lipper.
Putting the bond inflows into context Moisson said the impressive numbers were largely the result of a continued appetite for global, emerging market and flexible fixed income products.
